In a bid to take advantage of the Central government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, top conglomerates including Adani Group, Tata Chemicals, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), and a joint venture led by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp. have shown interest in making lithium-ion cell manufacturing plants in India, Mint reported citing three people aware of the matter.
“Some of these companies also plan to engineer a shift towards renewable energy and reduce dependence on traditional energy businesses. Hence, manufacturing lithium cells gives them an opportunity to take a step forward in that direction and with 50% of new vehicle sales expected to turn electric in the next 10-15 years, globally, there will be demand, and huge capacities will be required," one of the sources said.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), Exide Industries Ltd, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, Greenko Group, Renew Power and Reliance Industries Ltd have also shown interest, the people cited above said.
A BHEL spokesperson revealed that the company is exploring the government's PLI scheme and is also looking to partner with leading global companies for setting up one such factory under the government's programme and leverage its engineering and manufacturing experience.
The government wants to turn India into a global hub for the manufacture of electric vehicles by the turn of this decade. The government is looking to attract investments worth Rs 45,000 crores.
“Our company, a JV of Suzuki, Toshiba and Denso, will be the first one to start manufacturing Li-ion cells in India. We are looking at all possible ways of expanding cell production in India," a spokesperson for TDS Lithium-Ion Battery Gujarat Pvt. Ltd. told the publication.
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